Posts Tagged: federal lands

Totaling more than 150 million acres, the National Wildlife Refuge System is the world’s largest system of protected areas dedicated first and foremost to wildlife conservation. Yet over 200 national wildlife refuges have existing oil and gas infrastructure including 103 refuges and four wetland management districts that have active oil and gas wells. In total there are more than 5,000 wells, with almost 1,700 of those wells actively producing oil and gas.

Sage-grouse are by no means the only creatures that make their home in the Sagebrush Sea, but they are some of the most important. Protecting these iconic western birds can mean providing benefits for many other species in these grassland ecosystems.